On LeBron’s Legacy And What Is The NBA Doing?

The NBA Finals will end either tonight with the LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers winning their first title since 2010, or it will end Wednesday night with the first game seven matchup since the Cavaliers beat Golden State in 2016.

Television ratings are down for the NBA and many have speculated as to why, but it could be just as simple as it is not basketball season. Sports fans have trained themselves throughout the years to watch certain sports at certain times, and sports junkies are watching baseball playoffs and the NFL in October, getting ready for the start of basketball, not viewing the championship series.

If the Lakers win, it will be LeBron James’ fourth title, putting two behind the aura of Michael Jordan. James is also making his 10th appearance in The Finals, and the only two players with more were part of the Celtics’ dynasty of the late 1950’s and 60’s: Bill Russell and Sam Jones, who both appeared in 11.

Would this title erase the “greatest of all time” question for James over Jordan? We wouldn’t be willing to do that personally, although we don’t dismiss the argument as some do. However, an 11th Finals appearance and a fifth championship for James might tilt the discussion for us.

Add in that LeBron very well could wind up his career as the all time leading scorer in professional basketball history, and end up in the top five all time in assists (he is about 1000 shy of Steve Nash for that spot right now), and only someone who thinks the game was better when they were younger could still hold on to the Jordan argument.

Although being 6-0 in The Finals is pretty impressive.

On the other hand, a player who is regarding as someone who thinks pass first becoming the NBA’s all time leading scorer is just as impressive.

Whether you are a “Jordan guy” or a “LeBron guy”, either way, being regarded as the second best player of all time in any sport isn’t an insult. There are only a handful of players who have that status in any sport, and make no doubt, LeBron James is in the conversation.

Now the league in which he plays has an interesting decision to make.

We’ve just said he believe at least part of the issue with the ratings and the overall interest in the sport could be based on the traditional viewing habits of fans, and the date when the league will start the 2020-21 season (or perhaps just the 2021 season) could be important for the future of the league.

It has been rumored the next season may not start until as late as March, four and a half months after the post-season ends, which is close to the normal time period between the end of the playoffs and the start of the next season.

However, the start of that season would be right in the middle of the NCAA conference tournaments and the championship brackets, and the beginning of baseball.

And assuming they would play a standard 82 game schedule, the conference finals and The Finals would wind up competing with the NFL (a behemoth no one wants to compete with), college football, and the World Series.

What would we recommend? The same thing several people have thought. Start around Christmas (when most fans start watching the NBA) and play a shortened 60 game schedule where the playoffs end around the end of June or beginning of July, and then get back on the normal league calendar.

Otherwise, the league may risk a popularity problem. We understand the league may have passed baseball as the #2 viewed sport right now, but thinking it is more popular than it is can be a problem.

An indoor sport competing against outdoor activities? Let’s just say, that could be a problem.

Retired Numbers Should Be For The Elite.

With Tristan Thompson perhaps (probably) playing his last game as a Cleveland Cavalier because the NBA season for the wine and gold is over, the subject of retired numbers came up regarding the franchise, and we wanted to weigh in with our thoughts.

First, let’s clarify a few rules. Much like Hall of Fame debates, you cannot use the fact that someone’s number has been retired and shouldn’t have as an argument to retire a number.

For example, Nate Thurmond’ s number was retired by Cleveland even though the big man played a shade of a season (114 games total) with the Cavs. That shouldn’t justify anyone else who played that short of time with the team having their number hanging from the rafters.

Second, a player should play the majority of his career with the team who is retiring his number. So, people who want the Indians to retire C.C. Sabathia’s number would be on the wrong side of this argument.

The lefty pitched here for eight seasons, but spent 11 seasons in pinstripes.

In our opinion, retiring a players’ number should be reserved for the elitist of players, the crème de la crème if you will.

So, Thompson will likely fit the longevity factor, but although he was a key piece of the squads that went to four straight NBA Finals, he’s never been an elite player. Heck, he’s never made an All Star team.

One of the reason’s the Cavs have so many uniform numbers retired was to draw people to games when they had bad records.

Austin Carr? He deserves the honor. He’s 6th all time in games played and still ranks 4th in points scored, and he was the franchise’s first marquee player. He’s called Mr. Cavalier, and with good reason.

Mark Price was the first Cleveland player to make first team All-NBA, and made four all star appearances, his teammate, Brad Daugherty, made five all star appearances.

We will agree to them, and of course, LeBron James’ #23 will be honored when his playing days end.

Larry Nance? Played more games with the Suns than with the Cavs (and we loved Nance as a player). And it pains us to say it, because his jersey retirement started bridging the gap between the team and James, but Zydrunas Ilgauskas’s number shouldn’t be retired either.

As for the future, the second clause would keep Kyrie Irving’s number in play, because he likely will play more games for another team than the Cavs.

The Indians got caught in the same attendance driven trap as well, so they started retiring too many numbers.

Obviously, Bob Feller’s #19 should get the honor. He’s the greatest player in the history of the franchise. And we would also agree with Lou Boudreau’s #5, Bob Lemon’s #21, and Jim Thome’s #25 never being worn again.

And Larry Doby’s historical significance, even though he’s ignored nationally, merit’s his #14 being taken out of circulation. The fact he was also a great player makes him even more worthy.

But Earl Averill? Most people outside of Cleveland don’t know who he is, even though he’s in Cooperstown. Mel Harder pitched here a long time, and was very good, but…

Frank Robinson deserves the statue commemorating him as the major league’s first African-American manager, but his number should not be retired in Cleveland. In Baltimore? Absolutely, but not here.

The Browns have retired five jerseys, although the number retirement is less prevalent in the NFL. Iconic players Otto Graham (#14), Lou Groza (#76), and the great Jim Brown (#32) will never have their numbers worn again, and we can understand retiring #45, commemorating the tragic story of Ernie Davis, who passed from leukemia before ever playing with the Browns.

The other retired number is another tragic story, that of Don Fleming (#46), who was a starting safety for Cleveland from 1960-62, and was electrocuted working construction during the off-season in June, 1963.

Our guess is the Browns will be retiring another number soon, when Joe Thomas is elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, his #73 will not be worn again.

To us, the jersey retirement should be a very special thing, reserved for the greats of the great for each franchise.

Adding players who aren’t worthy cheapens the honor for those special players.

Even With Drummond, Cavs Need To Find More Big Men

When the Cleveland Cavaliers traded for Andre Drummond at the trade deadline, we were thrilled because it was the first time in a long time the Cavs addressed the lack of height on their roster.

Since Timofey Mozgov left as a free agent, Cleveland either didn’t have legitimate big men (read traditional center) on the roster or didn’t use those people.

When the wine and gold went to The Finals in 2018, the last season LeBron James played in Cleveland, the Cavs had three players taller than 6’9″: Channing Frye, Kendrick Perkins, and Ante Zizic.

That trio played a combined 774 minutes. COMBINED.

The Golden State Warriors, known for their long range shooting and small ball lineups, had four players 6’10” or taller: Kevin Durant, Zaza Pachulia, JaVale McGee, and Damian Jones.

Pachulia alone played more minutes than the Cavaliers trio.

Let’s look at the two best teams in the NBA this season, the Lakers and Bucks.

Los Angeles has three big men getting over 15 minutes per night: Anthony Davis, Dwight Howard, and McGee.

Milwaukee uses three tall people more than 14 minutes per contest: Brook and Robin Lopez, and of course, Giannis Antetokounmpo.

The point is, size is still important even in today’s professional basketball where positions are fluid and the scoring has drifted to the perimeter.

So, getting Drummond was an important step in remedying this situation, but the Cavs could have a problem in this regard this off-season.

Drummond can be a free agent at the end of this season, albeit with a player option, with the situation the world is in right now, he seems unlikely to decline because he figures to not see as much money on the open market.

However, the other two big men wearing the wine and gold, Zizic and Tristan Thompson (who is 6’9″ but is most definitely a C/PF and provides interior defense) are also eligible to test the market, meaning GM Koby Altman could again have a roster devoid of size.

No doubt there will be some veteran free agents from other teams out there for the Cavs, but hopefully they will sign at least two of them, because Cleveland is already small in the backcourt, and at the start of the season, they were the smallest team in the NBA.

Should Altman take a big man in the draft? It wouldn’t hurt, but the team has needs in other area (not guard) and since big men take longer to develop, it would be doubtful a rookie such as James Wiseman (7’1″, 235 lbs) could make much of an impact in his first year, particularly on the defensive end of the floor.

In our opinion, Thompson staying in Cleveland is a long shot and we’ve seen rumors that Zizic is returning overseas, and we have doubts that he can play interior defense in the NBA due to lack of quickness.

That means beside the draft and solving the impending roster problems at guard, Altman needs to find some big people as well. Ideally, we would like to see three players over 6’10” added to the roster, but at the very least, two would do.

Height is still a requirement in the NBA. Good teams seem to have players who can provide defense around the rim. The Cavaliers can’t lose sight of that before the 2020-21 season begins.

Personal List: Our Top Ten NBA Players

Since we are without live sports and we are reduced to watching old games in each of our favorite sports these days, we have seen a lot of lists, trying to generate some conversations.

We recently wrote a piece about the way players seem to be evaluated in basketball these days, and whether or not you regarded that as “old man ranting” or not, we think many of the ways used by younger fans isn’t correct.

All that said, we decided to put together our list of the best ten players in NBA history.

1. Michael Jordan. For much of our life, we regarding Wilt Chamberlain as the best ever, but watching Jordan win six titles in eight years won us over. We know this isn’t a popular opinion, but Scottie Pippen was a very good player, but he isn’t a Top 50 All Time player without being on the same team as Jordan.

Remember, in the second season Jordan was away playing baseball, the Bulls were slightly over .500. They won three more titles when MJ returned.

2. LeBron James. First, it is not a disgrace to be the second best player of all time, and we can understand people thinking getting to nine NBA Finals is a greater feat than winning six championships.

James is probably the greatest athlete to play in the league, and he certainly has dragged his share of poor supporting casts to The Finals (2007, 2018). And remember, he may wind up as the all time scoring leader, and still is regarded as a playmaker, first and foremost.

3. Wilt Chamberlain. The most dominant force ever. Averaged 50 points per game in a season, 44 per night in another, and over 35 a game in three more. And led the league in assists in 1967-68.

As for comments that he played against plumbers? Take a look at the careers of players like Walt Bellamy and Nate Thurmond. And he more than held his own when he was in his mid-30’s vs. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

4. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The all time leading scorer and played effectively in the league into his 40’s. His sky hook might have been the most unstoppable weapon in league history. However, didn’t average over 10 rebounds per game after the ’80-’81 season.

5. Bill Russell. Greatest winner in NBA history winning 11 titles in 13 seasons. But, let’s not forget he had a lot of great teammates: Bob Cousy, Sam Jones, Tom Heinsohn, John Havlicek. He changed the game though, by showing defense and shot blocking can be as important as scoring.

6. Oscar Robertson. The “Big O” had five seasons in his career where he scored 30 points and dished out 10 assists per game. And at age 35, still scored 14 points a game and dished out 9 assists for a Milwaukee team (with Abdul-Jabbar) that lost in the NBA Finals.

Of course, had the first “triple double” season his second year in the league.

7. Larry Bird and 8. Magic Johnson. We put these two together because they ushered in an era where it was cool to pass again. We put Bird slightly ahead because he was the better scorer (four seasons over 25 per game).

Johnson was the first big guy (6’9″) to play the point, and he controlled the game for the Showtime Lakers. Bird averaged 10 boards and 6 assists, Johnson 11 assists and 7 boards. And they were the greatest rivalry in the NBA over a half dozen years.

9. Tim Duncan. The greatest power forward ever, and the best player on four of the Spurs’ five championship teams. Averaged 16 points and 9 rebounds a game in the playoffs at age 37 for championship #5. Did it in just under 33 minutes per game.

10. Jerry West. The guy is the freakin’ logo for the NBA. Four seasons of over 30 points per game, three seasons over 8 helpers. At 33-years-old, led the Lakers to a 69-13 record (then the best ever), scoring 25.8 points and passing out 9.7 assists.

The next ten in no particular order would include Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, Bob Pettit, Kevin Garnett, and Julius Erving, Karl Malone, and Rick Barry.

Being an experienced NBA fan, we’ve seen all of these players in action. It has been a great league for a long time, not just the last 20 years.

Evaluation Of NBA Players Is Different Today.

With “The Last Dance” airing on ESPN the past two weeks, the age old who’s better, Michael Jordan or LeBron James, has reared up once again.

Our opinion is Jordan, but we don’t dismiss the James argument, as LeBron might be the most gifted athlete to ever play in the NBA. And although Jordan has won six titles, James has been to The Finals nine times.

Only three players have been to more: Bill Russell, Sam Jones, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

What we have thought about is the way evaluating great players has changed in the last 20 years of professional basketball.

Keep in mind, we’ve followed the NBA since the late 1960’s.

Too Much Emphasis On Rings. Ring counting has been en vogue since Jordan started winning them, but it doesn’t seem fair anymore.

First, the player movement is greater than ever particularly among the league’s best talents. Could Oscar Robertson have won more rings had he decided to sign with the Celtics in his prime?

Or let’s say Wilt Chamberlain went to the Royals when they had Oscar and Jerry Lucas. Could they have knocked off the Russell-led Celtics?

This isn’t to criticize today’s players it is just to point out free agency wasn’t available in the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s, and it is more prevalent that it was in the 80’s and 90’s.

The other part of the ring debate is the Draymond Green/Charles Barkley argument. Green is a very good player, and a key piece of Golden State’s three titles in four years.

However, there is no universe around where Green is a better player than Barkley. End of discussion.

Besides, how do the ring counters evaluation players like Robert Horry (7 rings) and Steve Kerr (5 rings)?

Style Over Substance. Today’s game seem to be more about the spectacular play rather than the winning play. There is room for both in the game, but since this is professional sports, shouldn’t the emphasis be on team success?

Early this year, we saw repeated replays of Memphis rookie Ja Morant trying to dunk on the Cavs’ Kevin Love.

First, we love Morant’s game, and think he will be a great player in the league for many, many years.

However, A). He missed the dunk, and B). The Grizzlies lost the game.

When was the last time a player on a team with one of the five worst records in the NBA was voted as a starter in the All Star Game? Prior to Trae Young being voted in this season, that is?

There used to be discussion that certain players probably should be in the game, but their teams weren’t any good. And maybe they did get a spot, but they didn’t start.

That’s changed now.

The Past Is Forgotten. Actually, baseball is the only sport where fans embrace the history of the game as much as they should.

So when the subject of the greatest players ever comes up, heck, sometimes even Larry Bird and Magic Johnson get omitted, so guys like Rick Barry, Bob Pettit, West, and Robertson have no chance.

Even ex-players do it. This past week, Kendrick Perkins said Kevin Durant is the greatest player ever to wear a Warriors’ uniform. The same Warriors who once employed Wilt Chamberlain and Barry.

The “It Happened Once” Theory. We find it amusing when fans cite things that happened once to predict the future.

A couple good examples relating to the Cavs were accumulating lottery draft picks worked for Oklahoma City, when they drafted Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden as high picks. Tell me where else it worked?

Also, the Cavs can play Collin Sexton and Darius Garland together because it works for Portland with Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum. Again, tell me other teams having success playing two small guards.

What is sad is so many truly great players are forgotten in today’s day and age. Are the size and physical attributes of today’s players greater? Of course. But the way the game is officiated today is more advantageous to smaller players, and the truly great players would have adjusted, the same as today’s players would have adapted to the way things were.

It’s been a great game for many years, not just since 1995.

Cavs “Greatest 8” After 50 Years

The Cleveland Cavaliers will be celebrating their 50th season this season and it is the only franchise in town where we can say we have been there since the beginning.

Before that, NBA basketball in Cleveland was limited to the visits the Cincinnati Royals made each year to our fair city.

In the last year before the Cavs existed, the Royals made four stops at the Cleveland Arena, the final game was played on February 3, 1970, a game won by the Los Angeles Lakers, 124-114.

Jerry West led the way for the Lakers with 38 points, while Tom Van Arsdale had 36 for the Royals.

The Cavaliers entered the league at the same time as the Buffalo Braves and Portland Trailblazers. The league probably thought they were doing the expansion teams a solid by scheduling them for 12 games each against each other.

Obviously, LeBron James is the greatest player ever to wear the Cavs’ uniform, leading the franchise to not only their only championship, but was also the focal point for all five Eastern Conference titles won by the team.

Depending on your point of view, he is one of the three best players to ever play in the NBA.

As soon as he retires, his #23 will hang from the rafters, and we would presume a statue will be erected outside Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.

Who else would be on the Cavaliers’ top eight players (starters and first subs) in franchise history?

We would start with the only other Cavalier besides James to achieve first team all NBA honors, and that would be Mark Price.

Price is still 5th in all time scoring and 2nd in assists and steals in club history. In addition to his first team All-NBA accolade (1992-93), he was third team three times (’88-’89, ’91-’92, and ’93-’94). He was on the second Cleveland team to lose in the Eastern Conference finals.

Kyrie Irving would be the other guard. It’s really a no brainer to add the four time (with Cleveland) all-star and the guy who made the biggest shot in franchise history. He also was third team All-NBA in 2014-15.

The center was so close we kept two as both Brad Daugherty and Zydrunas Ilgauskas make our “Great 8”.

Both had major injury problems throughout their career (Daugherty’s back issues caused him to retire at 28, while Ilgauskas battled foot problems), but Daugherty was a four time all star and is still 3rd all time in scoring and rebounding, and as a center, is 7th all time in assists.

Ilgauskas is a distant second to James in scoring, and also ranks as the runner-up in games played and rebounding. And he was a starter on the franchise’s first trip to the NBA Finals.

The other forwards, besides James, were mainstays on the early 90’s teams which couldn’t get over the Michael Jordan hurdle: Larry Nance and Hot Rod Williams.

Looking at numbers, you forgot how good Williams was. He ranks 5th in games played, 7th in points, 5th in rebounds, and 2nd in blocked shots in Cavalier history. He was a reserve mostly because Lenny Wilkens loved him as a weapon off the bench, backing up both Daugherty and Nance, and at times playing with them.

Nance is 9th all time in scoring, 8th in boards, 3rd in field goal percentage and blocked shots. He was the final piece in making those teams title contenders. The Cavs were 42-40 the year Nance arrived in a mid-season trade, they won 50 games in three of the next five years.

The last spot on our list goes to franchise icon Austin Carr, whose career was hampered by knee injuries, but was the team’s first star.

Carr was the first overall pick in the draft in 1971, and made the All Star team in his third year with a 21.9 scoring average. He was around 24 PPG the following season when he injured his knee, and became a valuable reserve for the Cavs’ first team that went to the conference finals in 1976.

Those are our Cavs’ “Greatest 8”. The best players Cleveland basketball fans have seen wearing the wine and gold.

While NBA Players Have Power, Who Is Worrying About The League?

The NBA off-season reached its zenith Friday when Kawhi Leonard made his decision, going to the Los Angeles Clippers as a free agent, after the Clippers made a trade bringing Paul George to LA from Oklahoma City.

So, there aren’t any “superteams”, like the Golden State Warriors the past few seasons, nor like the Boston Celtics of the late 2000’s, or the Miami Heat earlier this decade.

But there are a decided shifting of great players to major markets. The five players who made the NBA’s top three all league teams and moved this off-season, all went to big market teams.

Now, some were already on big city squads, like Kawhi Leonard going from Toronto to LA, and Kyrie Irving going from Boston to Brooklyn.

But George went from Oklahoma City to the Clippers and Kemba Walker went from Charlotte to Boston.

So, the only players on small market teams remaining on the first, second, or third team All-NBA squads are Nikola Jokic (Denver), the reigning MVP, Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee), Damian Lillard (Portland), Rudy Gobert (Utah), and Blake Griffin (Detroit).

The year before, Anthony Davis and Jimmy Butler were listed and both of them moved to big markets (Lakers and Heat, respectively).

This is not meant to criticize the players. They have earned the right to free agency, and because of that, they earned the right to play where they choose.

The question is how this affects the league, which the players don’t and shouldn’t worry about.

The NBA is without a doubt, a multi-billion dollar business, and the players are the reason for that. They are the league, and the names are recognizable by first name or nickname: LeBron, Kawhi, Steph, KD, Giannis, etc.

However, if all of the league’s superstars gravitate to big markets and warm weather climates, how does that affect the Association?

Part of the reason the NBA makes a lot of money is it has 28 markets (two teams in Los Angeles and New York). Now, the younger fans are more attracted to players rather franchises, but the league is helped by those stars traveling to 28 cities around North America.

What would happen if eventually, four of those franchises went away because attendance fall off, mainly because the people who can afford tickets to NBA games figure out their franchises don’t have any chance to be competitive in the long term.

Or four of those teams relocated to let’s say, southern California or the New York metropolitan area, again reducing the number of markets to draw fans?

Is that good for the health of the NBA?

Again, the league has become global, so maybe it doesn’t matter, and perhaps they will eventually relocate smaller American markets to Europe, Mexico, or other countries, growing the NBA in that matter.

We aren’t going to say the championship the Cavaliers won in 2016 will be the last one by a smaller market because the Bucks still have Antetokounmpo, and that makes them a threat to get a title.

But the growing number of players looking to get out of smaller cities continues to grow. And let’s face it, if James isn’t from northeast Ohio, does he come back from 2014-15 to 2017-18 and the Cavaliers get to raise a banner?

As we said, it’s not the players’ job to worry about the league, but someone should be concerned. Shouldn’t that be the commissioner? Again, maybe he just doesn’t care about the middle of the country.

Our View Of Winning And Leading In Hoops.

Basketball can be viewed differently by a lot of people, it’s a very subjective sport.

Many people view it from a numbers perspective only, meaning players who score a lot are good players, although there are some guys who do that at the expense of everything else, so they aren’t really important to winning teams.

We hear it all the time in conversations about basketball, and we can cite examples right on our own Cleveland Cavaliers.

We believe people undervalue Larry Nance Jr. because he’s not a scorer, his career high in points per game is the 9.4 he tallied this season.

But Nance does a lot of good things on a basketball court. First, he makes 52% of his shots, meaning he understands his limitations in that area. He also grabbed 8.2 rebounds and dished out a career high 3.2 assists.

A big man who can pass is very valuable. Look at Nikola Jokic for the Denver Nuggets, who averaged over seven assists a game for the team with the second best record in the Western Conference.

Conversely, we aren’t big fans of Jordan Clarkson, who we believe is nothing more than a scorer for bad teams. Think about it, the Cavs averaged 104.5 points per game, and they were one of the worst teams in the NBA.

Someone has to score those points. When Clarkson did play for a good team, the second half of the 2017-18 season with Cleveland, he was invisible much of the time, particularly in the playoffs.

He doesn’t do much else to help a team win, and in our view, that’s why he is very replaceable.

Another thing that irritates us is talk of a players’ legacy, or determining who is the leader of a team.

Leadership is a very difficult thing, getting people to follow you isn’t easy. One thing we believe is that leaders don’t have to tell you they are the leader. Everybody just knows.

LeBron James did inform the media all the time he was the Cavs’ leader, but the players seemed to understand that as well. The holdovers from last year’s roster talked a lot this season on the work ethic that carried on even though James was in Los Angeles.

James led by being prepared for every season and every game. He is talented enough that he didn’t have to be, but he was. His teammates saw that.

And sometimes, players thrive when they aren’t a featured performer.

For example, Kyrie Irving wanted badly to have “his own team”. Right now, the phrase “be careful what you wish for” comes to mind.

Irving is having a problem with the leadership role, and really, there’s nothing wrong with being the second best player on a team that wins a title.

Look at how people view Klay Thompson or Scottie Pippen. They are thought of as great, even though they played with better players. They are important reasons as to why their teams are champions.

There seems to be too much self awareness in the game today. Why not win as many titles as you can? We understand that players can be free agents and can play where they want, and we don’t begrudge that. They’ve earned that right.

But shouldn’t the goal be to win? And win as much as you can?

It may be a generational thing, we guess.

Basketball is a beautiful game when played well. And as we said, it is a very subjective sport. This was our view.

Who May Not Be Back For The Cavs Next Fall.

The NBA playoffs have started over the past weekend and for the first time in five seasons, the Cleveland Cavaliers are not participants.

That’s not really a surprise to many who figured the wine and gold’s contending days ended when LeBron James departed for Los Angeles.

As expected, Larry Drew and the Cleveland front office parted ways. Drew would like to catch on with a contending team as an assistant, while GM Koby Altman’s preference for head coach would be a younger man with a background in player development.

We have already talked about who would be our core group heading into the 2019-20 campaign, the 50th season for the Cavs.

We would build around Kevin Love, Larry Nance Jr., Cedi Osman, and David Nwaba. Collin Sexton showed enough in the second half of the season to be here as well, although if Cleveland happened to draft Ja Morant, we could see pursuing a deal for the rookie guard. (Notice we didn’t say point guard).

And our preference would be for Ante Zizic to be on the roster too, although we question whether or not we will ever be a solid interior defender. You can learn to position yourself properly to minimize your lack of quickness with experience.

We all are aware of J.R. Smith’s situation, his contract, because it is not fully guaranteed is a much better asset for teams if he is moved prior to the end of June. Because of that, he will likely be moved prior to the NBA Draft.

Notice we have not mentioned two key members of this year’s roster, including someone who was a key piece of the championship team.

We would bet Tristan Thompson will be moved before the next season begins. Thompson’s contract expires after the ’19-’20 schedule ends, which makes him a valuable piece.

Plus, his skills fit much better with a team contending for a title. He’s a solid defender inside, a tireless rebounder, particularly at the offensive end, and he has a lot of playoff experience.

Besides, the Cavs have Love, Nance, and Zizic who we are sure they would rather give more minutes to going forward, and don’t forget John Henson as well. And we would bring Marquese Chriss back on a smaller contract if he is amenable.

The other member who received a lot of playing time this season is Jordan Clarkson.

Clarkson provided scoring (16.8 PPG) for a team that at times needed it badly. But we still don’t know if he is anything more than a guy who can score points for bad teams.

He’s been in the association for six years, and made one playoff appearance, last season with the Cavs, where he was frankly, terrible.

His shooting numbers this season weren’t anything out of his norm, and he’s not a great passer or defender.

His contract also expires at the end of next season.

Our guess is Altman would be willing to move either and take back a bad contract with perhaps two years remaining if first round draft picks were included.

Nick Stauskas is also a free agent, but we believe the organization picked him up after he was waived to fill a roster spot, and they don’t have plans for him next season.

We believe the Cavs will be very active before the draft and when the free agency period kicks off, looking to make more moves like they did in getting Brandon Knight.

And of course, they will have a high draft choice as well. The floor is all yours, Koby Altman.

Love Reminding Us How Good He Is

Especially in Cleveland, we believe everyone has forgotten what a great basketball player Kevin Love is.

The first four years Love was in Cleveland, he was the whipping boy whenever the Cavaliers didn’t perform up to expectations. If the wine and gold were not dominating opponents, the blame usually fell on him, mostly because he wasn’t putting up the gaudy numbers he did in Minnesota.

It is ridiculous that even when he was out earlier this season, there were some in the media who felt no other NBA team would be interested in this guy.

You see, Love averaged 26 points per game twice with the Timberwolves, and in different seasons, grabbed an average of 14 rebounds two different seasons in Minnesota.

However, there is no question that no player on the Cavs sacrificed more in the four years LeBron James was the leader on the roster than Kevin Wesley Love.

In those four seasons, Love’s highest scoring season was 19.0 in 2016-17, which was his best year during those campaigns. He averaged 11.1 boards, and shot 37% from three point range.

Playing up north, Love’s lowest percentage of shots close to the basket (0-3 feet out) was 25.3% during his last season with the Wolves. In Cleveland, his highest number in the four years the Cavaliers went to The Finals was 24%.

By the way, this year? He’s back to 29%.

Love became a “stretch four” as James’ teammate, and as he has shown throughout his career, he is so much more than that.

He is one of the best 25-30 players in the sport, and because he played with James and for three of the years, Kyrie Irving too, people have forgotten what a talent he is.

He’s a five time All Star, and had he not been hurt much of this year, probably would have made a sixth.

Think of how the 2015 Finals would have been different had Love and Irving been healthy for the entire series.

Since Love has returned from his foot injury, the Cavs have gone 3-2 in the five games he has participated in. Now, while they aren’t beating the elite teams in the NBA, while the big man was out, they were 11-41.

And in one of the games they dropped, he played just six minutes in his first game back.

Last Saturday, Love scored 32 points and grabbed 12 caroms in a win over Memphis, his best night of the season. And because he is still coming off the injury, he didn’t see the court in the last six or so minutes of the game.

In the last three of those games, he’s made 12 of 23 shots from beyond the arc, showing that his shooting is returning.

He’s also averaging 11 rebounds a game in the last four contests.

Just his presence on the court, has made the other players on the roster better too. They seem to play with more confidence, and Love’s outside shooting threat has opened up the lane for others.

We all know the Cavs are in tank mode this season, but we forget that a big reason they will likely have one of the three worst records in the league (and therefore, the best chance for the first overall pick) is Love’s injury.

Had Love been healthy this season, Cleveland probably wouldn’t have been a playoff team, but they would likely be sitting around the 7th to 9th pick area.

If the Cavs are able to get one of the top three picks this June, and keep Love, they will have a ready made one-two punch to start the season.

We have said this before, if you don’t think Kevin Love isn’t one of the games’ best players, you don’t know the game.

We think he will remind everyone of this over the last six weeks of this season.